The testing, inspection and certification experts, Bureau Veritas, say that local authorities, commercial property owners and facilities managers should adopt smart grid technology to control the use of electricity during peak demand. 

 

Smart grid systems use renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and battery energy storage (BESS) to allow buildings to both produce and use energy in a two-way process. 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee has published a report on Decarbonisation of Heat in UK Homes. 

 

The plan is to overhaul the way all UK homes are heated. However, the report highlighted an urgent need for policy changes if the goals are to be met as part of the government’s Net Zero Strategy. 

UK Power Networks has launched a Foundation to support communities during the move to net zero carbon emissions. 

 

The fund is part of the company’s £4.6billion business plan for 2023 to 2028 that has been submitted to the industry regulator, Ofgem. 

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) published its ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ strategy on 1 June. The idea is to drive recovery in the sector and to help the wider UK economy. 

 

As we move on from the coronavirus outbreak and the economic downturn that is expected to follow it, construction will have an important role to play. 

 

Construction employs over 3million people in a wide range of professions and trades, including electrical installation and maintenance. It also exports valuable products and services. 

Here’s a clever idea… Siemens has introduced a virtual power plant (VPP). 

 

It’s a software solution that balances electrical loads from buildings connected in a ‘microgrid’ that has both renewable energy and energy storage. 

 

The new VPP service allows electrical loads of commercial buildings or industrial sites to be combined, helping to reduce the need for reserve power by balancing consumption. Building operators can then sell surplus energy back to the electricity market. Siemens believes this approach will increase the flexibility of the whole market.